Marco Wittmann fights his way to valuable points for BMW in the DTM title battle in Saturday’s race at the Hungaroring.

Budapest (HU), 24th September 2016. Marco Wittmann (DE, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM) remains a model of consistency in the current DTM season: despite difficult conditions, he came home seventh to finish in the points again in race 15 of the season at the Hungaroring (HU). The six points gained in Hungary mean Wittmann continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship with 176 points. His lead over Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi), who won Saturday’s race, is now 14 points. BMW Team RMG and BMW are now second in the Team and Manufacturers’ competitions.

The remaining BMW drivers finished outside the points. Maxime Martin (BE, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM), Tom Blomqvist (GB, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM), Timo Glock (DE, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM), Bruno Spengler (CA, BMW Bank M4 DTM), António Félix da Costa (PT, BMW M4 DTM) and Augusto Farfus (BR, Shell BMW M4 DTM) were 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 20th.

Martin Tomczyk (DE, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM) made a promising start to his fourth-from-last DTM race, but spun after a collision on the opening lap and dropped well down the field.

Reactions to the 15th race of the 2016 DTM season.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “As we had to expect after qualifying, that was hard work. With so many Audis out in front, it is difficult to make your way to the very front of the field. Marco made a great start and spotted the gap in turn one, although Mattias Ekström did not make his life easy. He then defended his seventh place with everything he had. Unfortunately, the race was very static, which is a shame for the fans. We must improve in qualifying tomorrow to end the race further in front.”

Marco Wittmann (BMW Team RMG, 7th place): “Seventh place was the most we could manage today. I had a very good start, but a particularly awesome first corner. I mustered all my courage and braked late. That allowed me to overtake two Audis in one go. We did not stand a chance against the Audi dominance today, but six points are very valuable. Let’s see how we get on tomorrow.”

Facts and Figures.

Circuit/length/duration:
Hungaroring, 4.381 kilometres, 40 minutes plus 1 lap

Conditions:
Sunny, 21 degrees Celsius

BMW Motorsport results:
#11 Marco Wittmann (DE), BMW Team RMG, Red Bull BMW M4 DTM – 7th place

#36 Maxime Martin (BE), BMW Team RBM, SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM – 12th place

#31 Tom Blomqvist (GB), BMW Team RBM, Ice-Watch BMW M4 DTM – 13th place

#16 Timo Glock (DE), BMW Team RMG, DEUTSCHE POST BMW M4 DTM – 14th place

#7 Bruno Spengler (CA), BMW Team MTEK, BMW Bank M4 DTM – 15th place

#13 António Félix da Costa (PT), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M4 DTM – 17th place

#18 Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW Team MTEK, Shell BMW M4 DTM – 20th place

#100 Martin Tomczyk (DE), BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM – 22nd place

Useful information:
Marco Wittmann once again showed how consistent he is this year with his 13th top ten result in race 15 of the season.

Wittmann qualified tenth – as the best-placed BMW driver – to start from the top ten for the 13th time this season. Only twice has he started from outside the front five rows of the grid.

Martin Tomczyk started the race from 12th, but spun after a collision in turn two and dropped to the back of the field.

António Félix da Costa was relegated from 15th to 20th on the grid due to a penalty picked up at the Nürburgring.

The second qualifying session begins at 12:50 on Sunday. Before that, the third practice session is scheduled for 10:45.

BMW Motorsport on the web.

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About the DTM.
The DTM is the most popular touring car series in the world. The series pits the three premium automobile manufacturers BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz against each other in a sporting contest. BMW fielded its first works teams from 1984 to 1992, during which time it claimed 49 race victories and won the Drivers’ Championship on three occasions (1984, 1987 and 1989). The manufacturer returned to the DTM in 2012, since when it has won seven of a possible twelve titles. 18 races, spread over nine weekends, are scheduled for 2016. ARD broadcasts all the races live. Tickets for all the DTM races are available here: https://tickets.bmw-motorsport.com/index.html